Depending on who you ask, freshman quarterback sensation Bryce Underwood’s debut with Michigan was an overall success, in which he passed multiple tests with flying colors in his first game at Michigan Stadium, a 34-17 win under the lights on Saturday night.

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While Underhood himself was hyper-critical of his performance, giving himself a C+ grade, he has a fan from the opposite sideline in New Mexico head coach Jason Eck, who sang his praises after the game.

Underwood’s poise, particularly during the Wolverines’ final drive of the first half, which resulted in a touchdown, stood out to him the most.

“He was awesome,” Eck told the media after the game. “I was impressed. I complimented him afterwards because I thought, you know, we cut it to seven right before the half, and then we get him to third and 14. Feel pretty good, you know. Third and 14, does a good job sitting in the pocket. He didn’t turn it over at all, which is what you were, you know, that was our hope that we could maybe get a young quarterback to get frazzled and throw it over, but he’s very accurate. I was just watching him a lot in warm-ups, and I thought just, you know, throwing routes on air. I mean, every ball is right on the money.”

Coming into the game with minimal tape on Underwood and what the Wolverines’ offense would look like under new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, the Lobos tried to throw anything they could at Underwood in hopes of throwing him off his rhythm.

Disguises, coverage changes and the like, none of it mattered.

In the end, Underwood remained cool, calm and collected and earned the respect of Eck, who continued to give the freshman high praise to the media.

“I was hoping maybe getting people around and changing coverages, we’d throw him off a little bit,” Eck said. “He was very impressive, and I thought that was probably his biggest drive of the game because I think you feel a lot more excited going into halftime if you’re down seven than down 14 because we had the ball. If we go down seven and have the ball to start, you really are energized, but that was a heck of a drive, and he’s a great player.

“Maybe I’ll be telling my grandkids one day that I got to coach against Bryce Underwood.”